Instant Book. Set parameters for Govt. ID but 'Personal Info' only allowed to book. What is that?

[Ange2]

Hi, Airbnb allow you to choose parameters for Instant Book but I am getting people without a Government ID and only "Personal Info"   - anyone know what that  is?  I have searched and cannot find anything about it.

[Ange2]

Hi @Lizzie    No not standard.  "Personal Info". On instant book one can require Government ID but many of mine do not have that instead they have what is called "Personal Info". Wondering what that is and what it is based on and does it now pass for Government ID. Would be great if this was all a little clearer.

Thank you

[Lizzie]

Awww, I understand now! Thanks @Ange2, @Kelly149 for the extra information. I just want to double-check about this, so I can hopefully provide more clarity around this for you. 🙂

[Ange2]

@i @Lizzie    Did you manage to find out what "personal Info" entails. I spoke to two employees at Airbnb and neither of them knew.

[Lizzie]

Thanks @Ange2,

I don't have any update for you at the moment I am afraid, but still working on it. 🙂

[Lizzie]

Hello @Ange2, @Kelly149, @Marzena4, @Lizzie25,

Thanks again for asking about this. I have found out a little more information for you all so I hope this is helpful.

Personal Information means that the person has completed and added some key things on to their profile ie. profile photo, payment method, full name, intro message etc. Someone with this on their profile will not have completely finish the verification process (ie. not added a Government ID) and are therefore not fully verified, but have the basic personal information, which is useful.

If you have applied a reservation restriction to require any potential guests to be Government ID verified in order to Instant Book your listing, this means that the persons won't be able to instant book your listing, but they will still be able to contact you to enquire about booking, which means you can accept if you feel comfortable with hosting them (it is your choice). 

Also, to add if you wish to require your guests have verified ID, I would recommend taking a look at the Reservation Restriction section on your account, you will see a section on this there that looks like this below, which provides information on how it works:

I hope this helps and clears up any confusion you may have had. It would be great to hear your thought. 🙂

Thanks again,

Lizzie

[Marzena4]

Thanks @Lizzie, it explains a little bit why those inquiries keep coming. Maybe the wording in our admin panels is not always that obvious.

[Lizzie]

No problem @Marzena4, really glad it is helpful. 🙂

It's great feedback about the admin panel information, in terms of this do you have any suggestions on how you think the wording could be improved to make it clearer? 

Thank you,

Lizzie

[Marzena4]

I will try to look through it over the weekend (that job...), @Lizzie - recently creating screenshots a few things caught my eye. Also, we already noticed here (a few hosts in another thread) that there are some differences in our admin panels. Do you happen to know why it is so?

[Ange2]

@Lizzie

Appreciate you finding out more about this.

But this is not my experience: "If you have applied a reservation restriction to require any potential guests to be Government ID verified in order to Instant Book your listing, this means that the persons won't be able to instant book your listing" 

A glitch? I checked need Government ID way back and yet guests have been allowed to IB with just "Personal info" (or a couple of times with no "standard requirements" whatsoever), thus my reason for trying to find out what it means. The definition that you cite for "Personal Information" is the same definition as "Airbnb Standard Requirements".

I would like to know why "Personal info" sometimes appear in lieu of Government ID for IB reservations that have Government ID as a requirement.

Example: below are guests who have been allowed to IB with need Government ID set as a parameter. One has ID the other only has "Personal info".

I am still confused.

[Lizzie]

 Hello @Ange2,

Thanks for this. Hmmm, interesting! 

It would be great to hear from other hosts as well to see if others are experiencing it working like this, so we can build up a better picture. 🙂

Can I just double-check Ange, following the screenshot in my last message, that you have that section ticked and your own account has also a fully verified ID?

Thank you,

Lizzie

[Kelly149]

@Lizzie @Ange2

So, Lizzie are you saying that the status of a host's personal profile will affect how the ID verification works for them?? Because I've read all the help articles I can find and this is not referenced anywhere. Ange has a "verified ID" but not govt ID on her profile. I have a "verified ID" but not govt ID. Is this why the govt ID required for guests is not working on our listings??

I thought I had seen a note that when this filter is turned on that our listings would not even appear in search for guests without ID.

So, several questions: does this filter work differently for different hosts depending on their own personal profile? Does this filter affect who is shown the listing in search or merely affects their ability to request vs. IB?

It seems that we could use a more detailed explanation of how this feature actually works.

Thanks, kw

[Ange2]

@Kelly149  @Lizzie  According to Airbnb articles one of the perks of choosing IB is that the hosts is allowed to decide parameters, such as Government ID, it does not depend on what is on your profile. That is an entirely different matter. I can and do choose Government ID - and I do get it sometimes. But sometimes I get "Personal info" instead.

I just want to know what "Personal info" is and if it used in lieu of  government identification, as it appears to be.

btw: I have found some info on "Personal info"  it seems to be an online verification system. People verify themselves by answering an online questionnaire based on information sourced from personal/private data that exists on the internet. Appears to be similar to an online background check.